An alcoholic teacher, a Santa Claus impersonator, and a television talk show host gather on the eve of the 16th anniversary of Romania's revolution to answer the following question: "Was there, or was there not, a revolution in our town?" A query as practical as it is existential, it begins with an examination of the teacher's purported participation in their town's own demonstration of four, and ends with the bemused reflection that the real revolution, the one that showed Nicholas Ceausescu fleeing his palace on December 22, 1989, could have occurred only on television. A deadpan comedic look at the smallest agents of social change, "East of Bucharest has a sly modesty reminiscent of the long-ago Czech new wave, exhibiting a sense of film form that evokes the best of the rueful Czech comedies" (Village Voice). more at www.tartanfilmsusa.com 35mm
2006, color, 1 hour 29 minutes, Romania